Narrating the Twenty‐first Century

The German author Tobias Hülswitt came of age professionally in the twenty‐first century, a time when writing for print, digital, and multimedia platforms has become a professional reality for contemporary authors. His diverse publications certainly can be analysed using either a traditional thematic or genre‐based approach. However, I choose to read his work through the lens of transmedial narrative analysis in order to reveal the implications writing for numerous publication venues has for authors and the stories they tell. In this article, I focus on four representative texts: Handbuch des Nonlinearen Erzählens (2011); Dinge bei Licht (2008); REVOLUTION – Die Wissensshow zur Digitalen Gesellschaft (2014), an interactive video project; and his essay ‘Mesokosmos’ (2011). Ultimately, my examination will reveal to what degree Hülswitt is able to incorporate his work on narrative theory into his own writing and conversely whether his ability to write successfully in multiple genres and media is key to his exploration of narrative nonlinearity. Within the broader context of contemporary German literature, my analysis offers an opportunity to examine storytelling through a transmedial lens to expose the implications genre and medium multitasking have for the stories an author tells

Art · Art history · Context (archaeology · German · Human multitasking · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Narratology · Sociology · Storytelling · Visual arts · Digital Games and Media · History · Linguistic research and analysis · Narrative Theory and Analysis · Psychology